The New York Jets are going to be super aggressive this offseason as they attempt to take the next step in their development.
For 11 straight years they have missed the postseason and if they hope to curtail that in 2022 they’re going to need some serious upgrades on the defensive side of the ball.
According to one analyst they’re going to be squarely in the conversation to add one of the best players that’ll be available on the open market.
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They Will Very Much Be in the Conversation
The Pro Football Focus staff put together a comprehensive list of the top-75 free agents that are projected to be available in 2022.
In each subsection, they added a bunch of juicy information on each player including key details like their strengths, weaknesses, and ideal scheme fits.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis is the No. 7 overall player on the big board and the Jets are expected to be “firmly in the mix” for his services, per PFF.
The 24-year-old cornerback is a former Super Bowl champion, helping the Bucs defeat the impressive Kansas City Chiefs last season.
Cornerback is a massive need for the Jets as they look ahead to the offseason. While they have a few interesting developing pieces in Bryce Hall and Michael Carter II, they still need a proven No. 1 cornerback.
The 6-foot-1, 206-pound cornerback out of Auburn excels in both man and zone concepts. It is rare for any good cornerbacks to make it to the open market, let alone ones that are so young.
“No. 1 CB: Carlton Davis has the size and physical profile of a cornerback who excels at man coverage. Davis has great physicality and the ability to break on the ball.”
In his four professional seasons, Davis has six picks, 49 pass deflections, 191 combined tackles, and has started in 46 games.
This is a golden opportunity for the Jets to truly invest significantly at cornerback for the first time in the Robert Saleh era.
Let’s Talk Money, Dollars and Cents Wiz
A 24 (will be 25 by the start of the 2022 season) cornerback hitting the open market is going to cost a pretty penny, but how much money are we talking about here?
PFF projects him to land “franchise tag money” which is hovering around $17.5 million per season.
That wouldn’t be a problem for the Jets who project to have north of $54 million in cap space in 2022, that would be the seventh-highest total in the NFL.
The last time the Jets doled out insane money to a cornerback in free agency, it worked out miserably.
Trumaine Johnson inked a five-year $72 million megadeal and never lived up to the hype. However, that shouldn’t deter the Jets from diving back into the deep end of the pool.
You have to jump back on the horse and keep swinging to solve your issues. We saw what a great cornerback can do for a defense when Darrelle Revis was here. We aren’t saying that Davis is Revis, although they did both wear No. 24 for Tampa which is interesting to note.
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Jets ‘Firmly in the Mix’ for Super Bowl Champion CB, Says Analyst